WEATHERLY RESIDENCE
LOCATION: Lower East Side, MILWAUKEE, WI
STATUS: UNDER CONSTRUCTION – Expected Completion Spring 2019
CONCEPT: Despite the relatively wide Lower East Side parcel, the lack of an alley forced a driveway down the length of this urban lot. Combined with the client’s request for a semi-private garden, a decision was made to locate the narrow main mass of the house tight to the northern property line. With tall neighboring Victorian houses from the 1880s flanking it, proportions were attenuated vertically to emphasize the relative height, without necessitating a gabled roof. This height is offset by the lower entry wall and sheltered porch off the Main Hall of the building, a through-space that opens both to the street and the interior garden.
Natural materials dominate the exterior, with cedar cladding the main bar, accented by black composite panels to maintain proportions. A606 weathering steel wraps the entry volume, lending a variegated patina to the facade. Black steel supported glue-laminated beams with a douglas fir deck cap the entry and extend to the interior of the first floor, while a mahogany entry door greets a passer-by and large sliding panels extend the living spaces into the garden seamlessly.
